Method of erecting a grain bin

ABSTRACT

A method of erecting a grain bin is disclosed herein which substantially reduces the time and effort involved in erecting grain bins. The method comprises the steps of (1) forming a trench in the desired configuration of the foundation; (2) attaching wallsheets to a series of reticulated reinforcing and screed members; (3) positioning the members with the wallsheets attached thereto horizontally and upstandingly in the trench; and (4) pouring concrete in the trench to form the foundation. The reticulated reinforcing and screed members are of inverted Lshaped configuration and unitary construction.

United States Patent Steffen 1 Aug. 22, 1972 [54] METHOD OF ERECTING AGRAIN BIN [72] Inventor: Vincent B. Steffen, 321 E. Hamilton,

New Hampton, Iowa 60659 [22] Filed: Dec. 11, 1969 21 Appl. No.: 873,774

[52] US. Cl. ..52/742, 52/364, 52/245,

52/295 [51] Int. Cl ..E04g 21/00, E04f 13/06 [58] Field of Search..52/l69, 742, 293, 245, 247, 52/274, 101, 61, 62, 364, 371, 587, 295,

[56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,265,966 5/1918 Schlafly..52/245 1,971,708 8/1934 Decker ..52/293 2,780,935 2/1957 Rumble..52/742 2,873,505 2/1959 Sheldon ..52/169 Guddal ..52/ 364 Johnson.;....52/l69 Primary Examiner-Henry C. Sutherland AssistantExaminer-James L. Ridgill, Jr. Attorney-Henderson& Strom [57] ABSTRACT Amethod of erecting a grain bin is disclosed herein which substantiallyreduces the time and effort involved in erecting grain bins. The methodcomprises the steps of (l) forming a trench in the desired configurationof the foundation; (2) attaching wallsheets to a series of reticulatedreinforcing and screed members; (3) positioning the members with thewallsheets attached thereto horizontally and upstandingly in the trench;and (4) pouring concrete in the trench to form the foundation. Thereticulated reinforcing and screed members are of inverted L-shapedconfiguration and unitary construction.

3 Clairm, 5 Drawing Figures METHOD OF ERECTING A GRAIN BIN BACKGROUND OFTHE INVENTION This invention relates to a method of erecting a grain binand, more particularly, to a novel reticulated reinforcing and screedmember and its use.

Building methods for small buildings have failed to keep pace with othertechnological innovations. In the construction of grain bins, thefoundation forms are SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION This invention relates toa method of erecting a grain bin comprising the steps of l) forming atrench in the desired configuration of the foundation; (2)-attaching aseries of wallsheets to the upper portions of a series of reticulatedreinforcing and screed members, which members are of sufficient strengthto support the wallsheets; (3) positioning the reinforcing and screedmembers and the attached wallsheets in the trench in an upstandingposition; (4) and pouring concrete in the trench to form the foundation.This invention also relates to the foundation per se and, morespecifically, to the reticulated reinforcing and screed membersdisclosed herein.

The principle object of this invention is to provide a method oferecting a grain bin.

Another object is to provide reinforcing and screed members which canadvantageously be utilized in this method. I

Still another object is to provide a foundation for a grain binutilizing the reinforcing and screed members described above.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is a perspective view of agrain bin utilizing the foundation containing the reinforcing and screedmembers of this invention with a portion thereof cut away.

FIG. 2 is an enlarged perspective view of two wallsheets attached to areinforcing and screed member.

FIG. 3 is an enlarged perspective view of the wallsheets attached to thereinforcing and screed member.

FIG. 4 is an enlarged perspective view of a reinforcing and screedmember positioned in a trench, the trench being partially cut away.

FIG. 5 is a greatly enlarged cross-sectional view of the reinforcing andscreed member with a wallsheet attached thereto. Also shown in FIG. 5 isa form holding ponionof the foundation.

' (FIG. 3).

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT Referring now to the drawings, agrain bin 11 (FIG. 1) erected by the method of this invention andutilizing the foundation 12 (FIG. 5) of this invention is illustrated inthe drawings. The reticulated reinforcing and screed members 13 areessential components ofv the foundation 12 and the construction methoddisclosed herein. wallsheets 14 are attached to the reinforcing andscreed members 13 by suitable attaching means 16 More specifically, hereinforcing and screed members 13 (FIGS. 15) may be formed from separatereinforcing members 17 and screed members 18. The reinforcing members 17may be manufactured in any configuration'and are generally made in theconfiguration of the desired foundation 12. For grain bins 11 inparticular, the usual and preferable configuration is arcuate.

The reinforcing members 17 (FIGS. 3-5) generally comprise a series ofhorizontally disposed and'vertically spaced rods 19 and a series ofvertically disposed and horizontally spaced rods 21. The rods 19 and 21are affixed together in a gridiron configuration, generally by weldingthe rods 19 and 21 together. When a foundation 12 of circularconfiguration is desired, the horizontally disposed rods 19 are formedin an arcuate configuration with the desired diameter. Although thegridironconfiguration disclosed herein is preferred, any reticulatedreinforcing member 17 can be utilized herein.

The screed members 18 (FIGS. 3-5) are preferably affixed to theuppermost portion 22 of the reinforcing members 17 and are horizontallydisposed. The screed members 18 are utilized as a leveling device informing the top surface 23 (FIG. 5) of the inner portion 24 of thefoundation 12 and are, therefore, disposed proximate the top surface 23.The screed members 18 are affixed to the reinforcing members 17 so thatthey extend inwardly of the reinforcing members 18.

Preferably, the screed members 18 (FIG. 3) comprise the uppermostportion 26 of the vertical rods 21. The rods 21 are bent or formedinwardly so that the uppermost portion 26 is perpendicular of thevertical portion 27. The uppermost portion 26 extends inwardly of thereinforcing members 17 when the reinforcing and screed members 13 areutilized in constructing a foundation 12 for a grain bin 1 1 or otherbuilding.

The reinforcing and screed members 13 can advantageously be of unitaryconstruction and are of an inverted L-shaped configuration as shown inFIG. 5. To be useful in the method of this invention, the reinforcingand screed members 13 utilized in the foundation 12 must be ofsufficient strength to support the lower tier 28 of wallsheets 14 (FIG.1). The structural requirements can be calculated by determining thedesired configuration of the building 11 and the weight of this lowertier 28.

The foundation 12 (FIG. 5) claimed herein has an inner portion 24 and anouter portion 29 with the reinforcing and screed members 13 beingcentrally disposed between the inner portion 24 and the outer portion29. The inner and outer portions 24 and 29 are generally formed frompoured concrete.

r n I n tn nun As shown in FIG. 5, the reinforcing members 17 aredisposed in an upstanding position and the screed members 18 arehorizontally disposed. The reinforcing members 17 (FIG. 1) are disposedin the configuration of the foundation 12 and horizontally aligned. Thescreed members 18 are rigidly affixed to the uppermost portions 22 ofthe reinforcing members 17 and extend inwardly toward the inside of thegrain bin 11 or building. Concrete is poured to the top surface of thescreed members 18 to form the top'surface 23 of the inner portion 24 ofthe foundation 12. The upper surface 31 of the outer portion 29 of thefoundation 12 preferably slopes downwardly and outwardly from thereinforcing members 17 to provide proper drainage for the grain bin 1 1.

The grain bin 1 1 (FIG. 1) of this invention comprises the foundation 12described above having a series of wallsheets l4 juxtaposed of the upperportion 22 of the reinforcing members 17 and the outer portion 29 of thefoundation 12. Because the grain bins 1 1 are usually of circularconfiguration, the wallsheets l4 necessity are of arcuate configuration.To lend strength to the 14 of the wallsheets 14 are also preferablycorrugated and readily attachable together with bolts, rivets or thelike.

The lower portions 32 (FIG. 5) of the wallsheets forming the lower tier28 are utilized, when attached to the reinforcing members 17, as anouter form for the inner portion 24 of the foundation 12. Additionally,the wallsheets 14 can be embedded in the foundation 12 to preventrodents from entering the grain bin 11.

Attaching means 16 are utilized to secure the wallsheets 14 to thereinforcing members 17. The attaching means 16 (FIG. 3) can be arectangular metal strip 33 securable about the reinforcing members 17and attachable to the wallsheets 14. The particular attaching means 16is not critical in this invention.

As shown in FIG. 1, a suitable roof 34 is utilized with the grain bin 11of this invention. The roof 34 shown is standard for grain bins 11.

The preferred configuration for the grain bin 11 and the foundation 12of this invention is circular. In this preferred embodiment, thewallsheets l4 and the reinforcing members 17 are, of course, arcuatelyformed.

1 In the method of erecting the grain bin 11, the above describedreinforcing and screed members 13 and wallsheets 14 are utilized. Thefirst step of this method comprises forming a trench 36 in the desiredconfiguration of the foundation 12. Preferably, prior to forming thetrench 36, the construction site is leveled. The trench 36 is thenformed, usually circularly, to a depth of at least inches and a width ofabout 12 inches. No forms are utilized in this method; at the propertime the trench 36 is merely filled with concrete.

A series of wallsheets 14 are then attached to a series of reinforcingand screed members 13 by attaching means 16 as shown in FIG. 2. Thewallsheets 14 are attached to the uppermost portions 22 of thereinforcing members 17 on the side opposite the screed members 18. Thewallsheets 14 extend downwardly about 6 to about 18 inches from the top37 of the reinforcing members 17 and in juxtaposition with the members17. The reinforcing members 17 should be of sufficient strength tosupport the lower tier 28 of wallsheets 14.

The reinforcing and screed members 13 and the attached wallsheets 14 arethen positioned in the trench Iran 36 in an upstanding position with thescreed members 18 extending inwardly of the reinforcing members 17(FIGS. 1 and 5). The reinforcing members 17 should be centrally disposedin the trench 36 and horizontally aligned whereby all of the screedmembers 18 are disposed in the same horizontal plane.

In this position, the lower portions 32 of the wallsheets 14 serve asforms to define the outer upper most surface 38 of the inner portion 24of the foundation 12. The outer, uppermost surface 39 of the outerportion 29 of the foundation 12 can be defined by a form 41 held in aspecially designed form-holding clamp 42 (FIG. 5). The form-holdingclamp 42 comprises a U-shaped end 43 for holding the form 41 and a7-shaped end 44 for securing the clamp 42 to the reinforcing member l7.The ends 43 and 44 are joined together by a leg 46.

Prior to pouring the concrete, the form holding clamp 42 is secured inthe reinforcing member 17 and the form 41 is removably secured in theclamp 42. As shown in FIG. 5, the clamps 42 extend outwardly of thereinforcing members'17 and the form 41 is secured on the periphery ofthe foundation 12.

The concrete is then poured in sufficient amount to fill the trench 36to thereby form the foundation 12. The concrete, on the inside of thewallsheets 14, is filled to substantially the same plane as the screedmembers 18. It is convenient, in this method, to also pour the floor 47of the bin 11 at this same time. To provide proper drainage, the floor47 should slope downwardly from the center of the bin 11 to thefoundation 12.

On the outside of the wallsheets 14, the concrete is filled to slightlyabove the lower portion 32 of the wallsheets 14 and preferably theconcrete slopes downwardly from the wallsheets 14. Rodents are therebyprevented from entering the grain bin 11 and water will not seep intothe bin 1 1.

Although a preferred embodiment has been described herein, variousmodifications within the scope of the appended claims may be made.

Iclaim:

1. A method of erecting a grain bin comprising the steps of:

forming a trench in the desired configuration of the foundation for thegrain bin; attaching a series of wallsheets to the upper portions of aseries of reticulated reinforcing and screed members, said reinforcingand screed members being of an inverted L-shaped configuration and ofsufficient strength to support the weight of said wallsheets;positioning said reinforcing and screed members and said attachedwallsheets in said trench and in an upstanding position with said screedmembers extending inwardly of said reinforcing members;

pouring concrete in said trench to form a foundation, the inner portionof said concrete being filled to substantially the same plane as thescreed members and the outer portion of said concrete being filled toslightly above the bottom of said wallsheets.

2. The method of claim 1 wherein said trench is of circularconfiguration and said reinforcing and screed members and saidwallsheets are of arcuate configuraunncn nlnA reinforcing and screedmembers, said clamps extending outwardly thereof; and wherein forms areremovably secured in said clamps and define the outer, uppermost portionof said foundation.

* IF k

1. A method of erecting a grain bin comprising the steps of: forming atrench in the desired configuration of the foundation for the grain bin;attaching a series of wallsheets to the upper portions of a series ofreticulated reinforcing and screed members, said reinforcing and screedmembers being of an inverted L-shaped configuration and of sufficientstrength to support the weight of said wallsheets; positioning saidreinforcing and screed members and said attached wallsheets in saidtrench and in an upstanding position with said screed members extendinginwardly of said reinforcing members; pouring concrete in said trench toform a foundation, the inner portion of said concrete being filled tosubstantially the same plane as the screed members and the outer portionof said concrete being filled to slightly above the bottom of saidwallsheets.
 2. The method of claim 1 wherein said trench is of circularconfiguration and said reinforcing and screed members and saidwallsheets are of arcuate configuration and wherein said reinforcing andscreed members and said attached wallsheets are positioned centrally insaid trench in horizontal alignment.
 3. The method of claim 2 wherein,prior to pouring said concrete, form-holding clamps are secured in saidreinforcing and screed members, said clamps extending outwardly thereof;and wherein forms are removably secured in said clamps and define theouter, uppermost portion of said foundation.